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ChinaMED Report 2019 ChinaMed Report 2019 China’s New Role in the Wider Mediterranean Region Edited by ENRICOFARDELLA and ANDREA GHISELLI With a foreword by PROFESSOR EMMANUELE F. M. EMANUELE President of Fondazione Terzo Pilastro - Internazionale ISBN: 9788894080377 The ChinaMed Project (www.chinamed.it) graciously acknowledges the financial support of the following organizations which made this publication possible: Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Internazionale, chaired by Professor Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele, is the natural evolution of Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Italia e Mediterra- neo, as holder of a synthesis of the original strategic forms of assistance that are now implemented on a larger scale and with no territorial constraints: the Third Sec- tor (non-profit organizations, or Third Pillar), and the urgent themes inspired by looking beyond the Mediterranean Region and observing current affairs in the emerging economies in the Middle and Far East, which in the future will play a lead- ing role in our history. The Foundation operates in the fields of Health, Scientific Research, Welfare, Education and Art and Culture and acts as a bridge between the various cultures of the East and West and the North and South of the world. The International Affairs Program of the Compagnia di Sanpaolo, a leading banking foundation in Italy, aims to create more opportunities for local institutions in a num- ber of relevant sectors in which they aspire to acquire international resonance, and stimulate the foundation’s ability to bring some of the leading elements that distin- guish European & international debates and reflections to the city of Torino. 1 The ChinaMED Project About Us Research The ChinaMed Project was launched in 2011 Thanks to an expanding group of by the Center for Mediterranean Area Stud- researchers, the ChinaMed Project collects ies (CMAS) of Peking University and the and elaborates data and monitors media TOChina Hub to offer a fresh analytical and academic sources in Chinese and the response to the shifting geo-economic and main languages of the region. The primary security landscape in the wider Mediter- research aim of the ChinaMed research ranean region. Led by Prof. Enrico Fardella team is to analyze the deepening intercon- (Director of CMAS) and coordinated by Dr. nections between China and the countries Andrea Ghiselli (Fudan University and in the wider Mediterranean, reflecting on TOChina Hub), the ChinaMed Project reflects upon, and actively engages with the their potential impact on regional and growing relations between China and the global dynamics. The research results are region through a range of academic and pol- published each month and are freely avail- icy-related initiatives divided into three able in the page of the ChinaMed Observer intertwined areas: research, education, and and through the ChinaMed Bulletin newslet- dialogues. ter. 1 Education shipping, security, IT, technology etc. - the workshops aims to favor a cross fertiliza- In partnership with several institutions, the tion between area experts and practitioners ChinaMed Project offers a range of educa- in order to promote a broader and more tional and training programs to students informed understanding of the Sino- and young entrepreneurs from all around Mediterranean dynamics. the globe. The ChinaMed Business Program (www.chinamedbusiness.eu) is a six-week Dialogues intensive program held in Beijing, Chongqing and Shenzen in partnership with The ChinaMed Project includes a yearly Peking University. It is specifically designed Track 1.5 Dialogue on Mediterranean secu- to train young professionals to grasp the rity with the Institute for the Middle East many opportunities created within the Chi- and North Africa of the China Institutes of naMed framework. The TOChina Insite is a Contemporary International Relations tailor made one-week program held in China (CICIR), one of the most prominent think for professionals - from the corporate and tanks in China. Over the years, this policy- institutional world - interested in deepening oriented dialogue has welcomed partici- and updating their knowledge on China's pants from Italian and Chinese public and most recent social, economic and poilitical private institutions to discuss strategic evolutions. The one-week"China and the issues within the ChinaMed framework. The Mid-Med" summer program hosted by Tel ChinaMed Symposium is the latest initia- Aviv University is designed for a selected tive to be launched and aims to convene, on group of renowned scholars and graduate a yearly basis, experts from China and the students doing research on the ChinaMed region to discuss key trends associated agenda. Through an intensive series of inter- with the deepening Chinese engagement actions with experts coming from a wide with the wider Euro-Mediterranean space. range of technical fields - logistics, trade, The ChinaMed Project is promoted by: The TOChina Hub is an integrated knowledge hub established to engage China not merely as a field of research, but as an indispensable partner in the education of future generations of cosmopolitan citizens and competent professionals. The Uni- versity of Torino has developed the TOChina Hub in cooperation with ESCP Europe (Torino campus) and the Torino World Affairs Institute (T.wai) to promote an innova- tive model of academic cooperation with select Chinese partners. Joint research agendas, dynamic programs for cross-cultural training and students mobility, and fresh channels for relevant people-to-people exchanges have been established with Peking University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Zhejiang University and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. The TOChina Hub aims to join the celebra- tions for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Italy-China diplomatic rela- tions in 2020 through an ambitious platform that will serve to support life-long learning on China as well as on the transformative dynamics of its Belt and Road Initiative. Supported by two of Italy’s largest banking foundations – Compagnia di San Paolo, through its International Affairs program, and Fondazione CRT – as well as by the Torino Chamber of Commerce, the TOChina Hub works to provide theory-in- formed knowledge, policy-relevant insights and practical know-how on China’s mor- phing identities, socio-economic structures, institutions, and policies. The Center for Mediterranean Area Studies (CMAS), directed by Prof. Enrico Fardella, was established in 2015 at Peking University. CMAS gathers multidisciplinary aca- demic expertise on the Mediterranean region (in history, international relations, eco- nomics, foreign languages, etc.) in order to provide high-level scientific analysis on the Mediterranean dynamics and their growing interconnections with the Chinese sphere of interests. Since 2016, CMAS works as the Chinese representative of the Asian Federation of Mediterranean Institutes (AFOMEDI), established by the Univer- sity of Busan, in South Korea. 1 Contents ExecutiveSummary I AcknowledgementII ForewordbyProfessorEmmanueleF.M.EmanueleIV President of Fondazione Terzo Pilastro - Internazionale AbouttheAuthorsVIII Introduction1 ENRICOFARDELLA-ANDREAGHISELLI Towards a Unified Policy of Closer Engagement? Sino- MediterraneanRelationsfromaChinesePerspective 13 SHEGANGZHENG Connectivity, and the Cooperation Between China and WesternBalkans 19 ARDIANHACKAJ China’sWaningCloutinGreece 24 PLAMENTONCHEV 1 TheBeltandRoadInitiative:AViewfromMorocco 29 EL MOSTAFA REZRAZI The One Belt One Road: A Framework for Egyptian-Chinese StrategicPartnership 35 MOHAMED FAYEZ FARAHAT The Long-Standing Struggle of Janus-Faced Relations: ChinaandTurkeyinthe21stCentury,MovingForward? 40 TUGRULKESKIN-MICHAELMCCALL Sino-IsraeliRelations:ChallengesamidGrowingTies 45 ORISELA-BRANDONFRIEDMAN An Overview of Sino-Gulf Relations: A ‘New Era’ of GrowthandaFutureEraofStagnation? 50 MOHAMMEDTURKIAL-SUDAIRI IranandChina:ReturntoTriangularRelations 58 MOHSEN SHARIATINIA A Glimpse View on China-Ethiopia Relations in RecentTimes 63 MAADINSAHLESELASSIEGESSESE SuggestedReadings 69 Executive Summary I Executive Summary How does China’s growing global role affect cal influence and its security attachments. the current dynamics of the Mediterranean The analyses written in this report show that region? This report aims to answer this at least one key element can be identified in question by exploring the most recent the approaches and responses of the differ- trends in the relations between China and ent countries in the region to China’s grow- the countries in the greater Mediterranean ing political influence: the difficulty to place region. the relationship with Beijing in the context of already existing diplomatic networks and China’s "march" towards the region began in alliances. the late 1970s and has accelerated each year, expanding its scope from an economic The importance of economic and to a political and security horizon. As diplomatic diversification China’s economy diversified, it required more resources and promising markets; the In a moment of great uncertainties, China’s massive energy basins in the eastern and return to the center of the world stage is a southern parts of the Mediterranean region certainty for virtually all the decisionmakers and rich developed markets in the northern in the region. Hence, many countries look at one seemed a perfect destination for Bei- China as an important opportunity to diver- jing’s new ambitions. Today, China’s power- sify their economy and foreign policy. Disil-